Election Countdown 2012: #Occupy Arrests From October 2011 Ruled Unconstitutional, and More

This week in the Election Countdown: Associate Judge Thomas Donnelly ruled the October 2011 arrests were unconstitutional because the city routinely chooses not to enforce the curfew for events the city supports; The Arkansas Supreme Court on Thursday upheld a proposed ballot measure that would make the state the first in the South to legalize medical marijuana;Obama suggests the elimination of 'middlemen' in the student loan system to give money directly to students and help keep interest rates low; and More.

Mission elapsed time: T + 21 and counting*

I'm an artist, and if you give me a tuba I'll bring you something out of it. –John Lennon

Occupy. Right to peaceably assemble: "Associate Judge Thomas Donnelly ruled the October 2011 arrests were unconstitutional because the city routinely chooses not to enforce the curfew for events the city supports, such as the 2008 Election Night rally for President Barack Obama. ... Police state: "UC to pay nearly $1 million in UC Davis pepper-spray settlement. The settlement also calls for UC Davis Chancellor Linda Katehi to write a formal apology to each of the students and alumni who were pepper-sprayed or arrested." Mistakes were made?

CA. On the docket: "A federal judge on Thursday determined [that Nakoula Basseley Nakoula] is a flight risk and ordered him detained. The hearing had an unusual wrinkle as the news media were banned from the courtroom where Nakoula was appearing, and reporters had to watch the proceedings on a TV in a different courthouse a couple blocks away. Court officials didn't give a reason for the decision." Hmm.

CT. More guns, please: "A man fatally shot a masked teenager in self-defense outside his neighbor's house during what appeared to be an attempted late-night burglary and then discovered it was his son." Of course, if the boy had had a gun....

IA. Early ballots: "During the 2000 general election, absentee ballots accounted for only about a quarter of Iowa Democrats and Republicans who participated. But in 2008, nearly half of the IA Ds who voted cast early ballots, whereas less than a third of Rs who participated cast early ballots."

MI. Emergency managers: "Emergency managers begin by usurping the power of all elected officials or simply 'firing' them. They can then rewrite the public budget without any public participation, unilaterally eliminate various services, cancel contracts, seize and sell off public assets, privatize government functions, and dictate new laws. They can even dissolve a city's charter. This isn't merely un-democratic–it's aggressively anti-democratic." (EM timeline) ... Deference: "Mayor Dave Bing halted a public district community meeting tonight after the audience became unruly and at times heckled him about issues including 12-hour shifts for Detroit Police and the proposal to lease Belle Isle to the state."

NC. Universities: "The UNC Advisory Committee on Strategic Directions, a group that includes prominent right-wing political funders Art Pope and Fred Eshelman, heard presentations Wednesday about the state's changing demographics, the need for more educated workers, and the state's economic future. The Pope Center has an answer for the workforce problem too, advocating a few years ago that students be allowed to drop out of school at age 14 to enter the labor force. They not only openly advocate for fewer kids to go college, they seem to want fewer to finish high school." 14? Why so late?

WI. Greens: "[Green Jonathon] Dedering says [D Brett] Hulsey has not been truthful in responding to questions about the disorderly conduct charge, in which he pleaded no contest to flipping a 9-year-old boy from his flotation device at Spring Harbor Beach on July 4. Hulsey later provided conflicting stories to the press and also charged it was a politically motivated complaint."

Grand Bargain™-brand Cat Food watch. Divided government: "A record-high 38% of Americans prefer that the same party control the presidency and Congress, while a record-low 23% say it would be better if the president and Congress were from different parties and 33% say it doesn't make any difference" (Gallup). If one party's in power, a Grand Bargain is almost certain. Stalemate is better! (To put this another way, if the Ds truly wanted to make real "change," they would have abolished the filibuster in 2009 using the "nuclear option.")

Voting. Provisional ballots: "New voting laws in key states could force a lot more voters to cast provisional ballots this election, delaying results in close races for days while election officials scrutinize ballots and campaigns wage legal battles over which ones should get counted" (explainer). ... Partisanship: "There are 36 states in which elections are overseen by an elected, partisan secretary of state or lieutenant governor, according to the National Association of Secretaries of State. In another three states – Florida, Pennsylvania and Texas – partisan secretaries of state appointed by the governor oversee elections" (explainer).

The trail. Toast indicator: "Soros is committing $1 million to Priorities USA Action, the 'super PAC' supporting Obama." Everybody loves a winner! ... Toast indicator: "with 40 days to go, we're moving several toss-up states in the president's direction. Our changes push Obama over the magic 270 mark, but we are not calling the race." (Larry Saboto). Read for qualifiers. ... Toast indicator: "There's no point in putting it gently: Romney had one of his worst polling days of the year on Wednesday" (Nate Silver). ... Lost cause: "[Respected congressional scholar Norman] Ornstein said in another couple of weeks, R independent Super Pac strategists such as Karl Rove 'could decide that Romney is a lost cause and they've got to pour their money into House and Senate races instead of the presidential race.'" ... Losing the political class: "Rs may soon lose a key talking point. According to data released Thursday, President Obama may now be a net job creator. In the year following Obama's inauguration, the U.S. economy lost about 4.3 million jobs. But new figures released Thursday show 4.4 million jobs have been added back since then " (CNNMoney). Buried: This doesn't keep up with population growth. ... Solnit's hippie punching, a response: "Your elected officials never deserve your praise. The second you stop complaining and join in the cheerleading is the second democracy fails to function. Anyone who tells you different is an elitist apologist. End of story forever."

Election Countdown 2012: #Occupy Arrests From October 2011 Ruled Unconstitutional, and More

This week in the Election Countdown: Associate Judge Thomas Donnelly ruled the October 2011 arrests were unconstitutional because the city routinely chooses not to enforce the curfew for events the city supports; The Arkansas Supreme Court on Thursday upheld a proposed ballot measure that would make the state the first in the South to legalize medical marijuana;Obama suggests the elimination of 'middlemen' in the student loan system to give money directly to students and help keep interest rates low; and More.

Mission elapsed time: T + 21 and counting*

I'm an artist, and if you give me a tuba I'll bring you something out of it. –John Lennon

Occupy. Right to peaceably assemble: "Associate Judge Thomas Donnelly ruled the October 2011 arrests were unconstitutional because the city routinely chooses not to enforce the curfew for events the city supports, such as the 2008 Election Night rally for President Barack Obama. ... Police state: "UC to pay nearly $1 million in UC Davis pepper-spray settlement. The settlement also calls for UC Davis Chancellor Linda Katehi to write a formal apology to each of the students and alumni who were pepper-sprayed or arrested." Mistakes were made?

CA. On the docket: "A federal judge on Thursday determined [that Nakoula Basseley Nakoula] is a flight risk and ordered him detained. The hearing had an unusual wrinkle as the news media were banned from the courtroom where Nakoula was appearing, and reporters had to watch the proceedings on a TV in a different courthouse a couple blocks away. Court officials didn't give a reason for the decision." Hmm.

CT. More guns, please: "A man fatally shot a masked teenager in self-defense outside his neighbor's house during what appeared to be an attempted late-night burglary and then discovered it was his son." Of course, if the boy had had a gun....

IA. Early ballots: "During the 2000 general election, absentee ballots accounted for only about a quarter of Iowa Democrats and Republicans who participated. But in 2008, nearly half of the IA Ds who voted cast early ballots, whereas less than a third of Rs who participated cast early ballots."

MI. Emergency managers: "Emergency managers begin by usurping the power of all elected officials or simply 'firing' them. They can then rewrite the public budget without any public participation, unilaterally eliminate various services, cancel contracts, seize and sell off public assets, privatize government functions, and dictate new laws. They can even dissolve a city's charter. This isn't merely un-democratic–it's aggressively anti-democratic." (EM timeline) ... Deference: "Mayor Dave Bing halted a public district community meeting tonight after the audience became unruly and at times heckled him about issues including 12-hour shifts for Detroit Police and the proposal to lease Belle Isle to the state."

NC. Universities: "The UNC Advisory Committee on Strategic Directions, a group that includes prominent right-wing political funders Art Pope and Fred Eshelman, heard presentations Wednesday about the state's changing demographics, the need for more educated workers, and the state's economic future. The Pope Center has an answer for the workforce problem too, advocating a few years ago that students be allowed to drop out of school at age 14 to enter the labor force. They not only openly advocate for fewer kids to go college, they seem to want fewer to finish high school." 14? Why so late?

WI. Greens: "[Green Jonathon] Dedering says [D Brett] Hulsey has not been truthful in responding to questions about the disorderly conduct charge, in which he pleaded no contest to flipping a 9-year-old boy from his flotation device at Spring Harbor Beach on July 4. Hulsey later provided conflicting stories to the press and also charged it was a politically motivated complaint."

Grand Bargain™-brand Cat Food watch. Divided government: "A record-high 38% of Americans prefer that the same party control the presidency and Congress, while a record-low 23% say it would be better if the president and Congress were from different parties and 33% say it doesn't make any difference" (Gallup). If one party's in power, a Grand Bargain is almost certain. Stalemate is better! (To put this another way, if the Ds truly wanted to make real "change," they would have abolished the filibuster in 2009 using the "nuclear option.")

Voting. Provisional ballots: "New voting laws in key states could force a lot more voters to cast provisional ballots this election, delaying results in close races for days while election officials scrutinize ballots and campaigns wage legal battles over which ones should get counted" (explainer). ... Partisanship: "There are 36 states in which elections are overseen by an elected, partisan secretary of state or lieutenant governor, according to the National Association of Secretaries of State. In another three states – Florida, Pennsylvania and Texas – partisan secretaries of state appointed by the governor oversee elections" (explainer).

The trail. Toast indicator: "Soros is committing $1 million to Priorities USA Action, the 'super PAC' supporting Obama." Everybody loves a winner! ... Toast indicator: "with 40 days to go, we're moving several toss-up states in the president's direction. Our changes push Obama over the magic 270 mark, but we are not calling the race." (Larry Saboto). Read for qualifiers. ... Toast indicator: "There's no point in putting it gently: Romney had one of his worst polling days of the year on Wednesday" (Nate Silver). ... Lost cause: "[Respected congressional scholar Norman] Ornstein said in another couple of weeks, R independent Super Pac strategists such as Karl Rove 'could decide that Romney is a lost cause and they've got to pour their money into House and Senate races instead of the presidential race.'" ... Losing the political class: "Rs may soon lose a key talking point. According to data released Thursday, President Obama may now be a net job creator. In the year following Obama's inauguration, the U.S. economy lost about 4.3 million jobs. But new figures released Thursday show 4.4 million jobs have been added back since then " (CNNMoney). Buried: This doesn't keep up with population growth. ... Solnit's hippie punching, a response: "Your elected officials never deserve your praise. The second you stop complaining and join in the cheerleading is the second democracy fails to function. Anyone who tells you different is an elitist apologist. End of story forever."